Poppy - ZIG album Review

Poppy is back once again with more new music and this time she drops a brand-new album akin to I Disagree onto our laps. A few songs on here I heard prior to the album's drop as they were released as singles. Zig is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Poppy, released on October 27, 2023, through Sumerian Records.

Church Outfit

Kicks off the album with its synthy bass followed by aggressive vocals from Poppy. Interesting start to the album maybe more synth, bass like instrumentals to follow. Poppy has explored and experimented with many genre's maybe this album will be metal/electronica.

Knockoff

Once again another catchy synthy club bass song. I love the chorus of this and how Poppy sings it and the accompanying vocals "I want to know" is so good. It's such a catchy one, it got stuck in my head and was played on repeat when this dropped as a single.

Hard

The most recent released single from the album, follows the tune of the last few with some more of the industrial, synth instrumental with poppy's soft sing-song voice. Quite a catchy chorus too. Oh, dear lord we get aggressive around the 1:45 mark before calming back down.

What It Becomes

This one starts off with the strong violin and then Poppy sings with silence which echoes and whirs as the instruments swell and build up. Around the 2min mark we get this distorted slowed voice before Poppy comes back with her softly sung lines.

Flicker

This kicks off with sort of electronic drum and bass along with Poppy's soft vocals, and we get some more violins to close it out.

1S + OS

Electronic and synthy as Poppy commands the track with her confident vocals following the chorus I feel. I dig this one.

Zig

The album's title track plays now, and it's quite a synthy electro pop song to kick off. This is damn catchy! Ooof them synthy breakdowns and then we get a chugging riff and some booming kick drums as we build up to the chorus and boom "when you zig, i zag, when you zig, i zag, i zig zag." Oh yeah this feels like something The Matrix films would use in the soundtrack or John Wick films in a club fight scene.

Linger

A slow acoustic stripped back start with this one until 1min mark where we get the electro feel back into this track. It's a nice one.

The Attic

Its soft, but we quickly get caught up in the fast-paced drum and bass. It's a lot to take it in, and I do feel the fast drum bass is a bit much but when the chorus swells and erupts it's a nice addition which ends with a few lovely piano tones.

Motorbike

Alright get on, we got a robotic lady walking us into the track before Poppy swiftly takes over as the robot accompanies as some back up vocals at points. The chorus is so fast and catchy, and it's good. I admit when I first heard this when it dropped as a single I was not into it but now after hearing all of the album to now and hearing this again in my headphones, I am moving and singing along best I can to it haha.

Prove It

Time for the last song on this album, almost distorted vocals and piano keys kick off this track before the vocals get more sharp and distorted as the drum and bass pounds. The chorus and vocals are quite stunning. Around 1:21 in the song we get more distorted and synth and drum and bassy. All before the track slows back down with its chorus and fades out with electronic static, that's it folks.

Although the album clocks in with 11 tracks which only lasts around 30 mins total for the album, she covers a lot of ground with tracks capturing different emotions and feels. Poppy said it best "when you zig, I zag" as she continues to branch out and explore the different musical genre's and styles of instruments to accompany her wonderful voice and creative talents. Poppy is ever evolving and creating, and I love how she does it. The themes of the album are that of love and disconnection and also a sense of empowerment, that's what I am taking away from this album. Although "I Disagree" is still my fave album from Poppy, this one is a nice entry onto her album catalogue and I will always recommend Poppy to people searching for new music because she has something for everyone and I feel she is so overlooked and underrated.

7/10

Top 10 Twenty One Pilots Songs

Now then, it is no secret at all, I LOVE TWENTY ONE PILOTS! 

Seriously! Their music is out of this world to me and a great source of happiness, fascination and inspiration. I love all of their albums, SERIOUSLY ALL OF THEIR SONGS TOO! BLURRYFACE is a masterpiece of an album for me.

Vessel recently hit 10 years old so what better time to do this list. 

This will be a tough task, BUT I am shocked that I have not already made a 21P list before, 

SO HERE WE GO!

Twenty One Pilots are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who both left in 2011. Since their departure, the line-up has consisted of Joseph and drummer Josh Dun.

#10 - Chlorine

Already at number 10 on my list, I am struggling to pick songs. Chlorine I am placing here because it's a strong catchy song with very memorable flow and instrumentals. This one is very much Tyler speaking out on his battles with mental health and with anxiety/depression/ocd. 

#9 - The Outside

OK we are on Scaled & Icy album now and man that album has some underrated bangers that need to be widely discussed more and this is one of them. This is pretty much a catchy chill but dance kinda vibe to it. The lyrics talk about being tired and taping one's eyes on a long drive because they don't want to sleep while driving. Maybe it's about the party lifestyle since when it breaks down into the rap part of the song maybe that's the trip happening and obviously this song sings about people nodding their heads and moving up and down and taking hits to join the club because you want to be part of the gang and not on The Outside as it were. Also not long after the rap part it seems like the lyrics no longer care because the person in question is happy vibin' on their own and nothing can stop them. 

#8 - Legend

Back to Trench with this absolute beautiful song dedicated to Tyler's grandad. I resonate strongly with the lyrics, this does and has made me cry as I think about my grandparents and basically putting myself in Tyler's shoes. It's a sad one but has a Cherie undertones because Tyler has accepted the grief and just know he will meet his Grandad in the future at the pearly gates. 

#7 - Guns For Hands

It's time to go to Vessel with Guns For Hands, beautiful and catchy and damn powerful. On the commentary for this track Tyler had this to say; "Guns for Hands is talking about I want to tell you that I know you have the ability to hurt yourself. You do. You have that ability. I feel like a lot of the older generation when they hear about someone struggling with it, their first reaction is like, “No, you’re not, you’re not struggling with that. Don’t think about that, you know, think about something else, you know, you’re just trying to get attention.” But this song was really trying to say like; “Listen, I know you have the ability to hurt yourself. I recognize that, but let’s take that energy and let’s point it at something else, let’s divert that, lets kind of shift that momentum and look at something like art, or something like this music specifically, or even point it at me, you know, just point it anywhere, but don’t point it at yourself.” And so that’s what that song’s saying and that song will always be important to me. And I’m not a professional when it comes to this topic, but I write songs, and I feel like someone should say something about it."

#6 - Fake You Out

Another Vessel track with this synth poppy sound with quiet gentle piano played in because this is Fake You Out. Again it's a great catchy song, and you can't help yourself join in with the "fake,fake,fake,fake" parts haha. Tyler said this about the track; "I was really excited about this one when I first started writing it. I think that the melody inside the verses is one of my favourite melodies where it goes to falsetto. I think that a lot of times I feel like writers slack on verses when it comes to melody. I feel like it’s like “these are my verses, this is kind of the part where people wait for the chorus.” And I’ve always felt like why not have the verses—the melody of the verses be just as infectious as the chorus? So I’m proud of this song in that way. Also, you know, it does the whole, you know, mash-up genre thing that everyone is freaking out about. Truly, I just didn’t know that there were rules to songwriting and, you know, so I just worked on transitioning from one genre to the next. I wanted to hear a song that did that. I’ve never heard a song do that before, I want to hear that, so I made that."

#5 - Shy Away

Fun fact this was my ringtone for the majority of 2021 haha. This was the first single released from SAI, and it delivered a new laid-back like sound to us fans which we were not really expecting after Trench but hey WE ATE IT UP AND LOVED IT AND DEMANDED MORE! The song was written by Tyler Joseph and mainly produced on his home studio as a form of tutorial for his younger brother, Jay Joseph, on how to operate all stages of a song during the recording process (writing, composing, producing). Tyler also explored elements of the electric guitar for the song, which was a barely used instrument by him, previously first used on "Level of Concern". When Tyler was first working on the voice memo of the song, his one-year daughter, Rosie Joseph, made a cooing noise in the background, which Joseph decided to keep in the very beginning of the track, for loving her being a part of the creative process in some way. The song was created while communicating virtually as the COVID-19 pandemic limited interaction between the band members. Specifically, this was the first time Josh Dun recorded his drums takes all on his own, with no sound engineers to help him or any studio assistance.

#4 - Mulberry Street

Ah-ah-ah yeah! Here we go with a chill laid back and catchy song which I adore. I always enjoy a sing and dance to this one. Tyler said this about the song; "There was a street in New York City where Little Italy is, and the first time that I ever kind of left Ohio. My manager, at the time, we had some meetings with like, record labels and stuff, and it was just a classic kid going to the big city moment. I took Josh and I, and a couple of friends to Little Italy, and we had this, you know, it was just like this, ‘I've never felt more out of place in my life being in New York City.’ Eat at some, you know, like we're going to go get some pizza. ‘This isn't the pizza I’m used to.’ You know, just something that simple, kind of really reminding you that you're not home any more. And so, this song to me was like, very, I wanted to imagine that feeling again."

#3 - Lane Boy

Alright top 3 time bay-bay and so my top 3 are from the same album *SPOILER ALERT* hehe. I cannot help myself this album is a masterpiece, I own 3 copies of the album because I have played 2 cd's to hell and they are so scratched up it is insane! Alright Blurryface so which one will take number 3? Well don't trust a perfect person and don't trust a song that's flawless. LANE BOY! Tyler is having none of it if you think 21P are going to stay in the same lane. Tyler & Josh attempt to explain a musical style that seems to change with every Blurryface single. The songs are intense and interesting, and this one, musically especially, is supercharged, a good match for the aggressive lyrics. The song describes the band's break from the direction of the music industry as well as a commitment to an entrepreneurship that doesn't focus on money. As you can hear, "Lane Boy" is unique among Twenty-One Pilots songs. The drums are still intense and, at times, a driving, reggae-style off-beat continues to come out strong. But otherwise, the BPM is faster than most of their songs, the vocal effects are fairly new, and the lyrics are some of the most pointed and aggressive they've written. The music in "Lane Boy" is unique, and so is the message.

#2 - Ride

Alright so I cannot state enough on how TOUGH this is for me to make but taking my 2nd place is Ride. The theme with this one even though it is pretty upbeat is that this about that time in your life where you feel down and out and like nothing matters, you have suicidal thoughts and anxiety and depression riddles your mind that is why the lines of "I've been thinking too much (help me)" repeats. I have been there. This song also about taking your time on this ride we call life.

#1 - Stressed Out

My name's Blurryface and I care what you think. Of course, I am going to put what is possibly my most listened to song of 21P as my number 1. The lyrics hit and connect strongly with me and I love the instrumentals, it's a chill song but has nostalgia sprinkled in along with a feeling of longing of that sadness of how far away we have come from being children and having that vast imagination and just knowing how good those old days were compared to adult life.

Alright and that's my list, it was incredibly difficult to put together given how much I freaking love 21P BUT hey what can I say? Right now these blurryface'd tunes are my current top 10 BUT this list will no doubt always revolve and change as we get new songs from the lads.

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Stay Blurry!

Top 10 Ghost Songs

As spooky month continues today...

I bring you a most scary ritual in the form of a Ghost (music band) list!

    

As you know, I am a massive fan of Ghost and Impera as of writing is still my ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2022.

Click the red text for the IMPERA ALBUM REVIEW!

I was talking to my good friend Zinfandel Steen who is one person many of you know from some mentions here or there or some YouTube videos from the past on my channel. Basically she's a bad-ass American lady who is a good friend of mine. Anyway, we were talking about Ghost, and she listed me her fave songs and I swear I made a Ghost list in the past, but I was mistaken and so today this Papa is going to give you a ritual of a lifetime with The Papa and his Nameless Ghouls. 

So if you are ready, come with me and prepare to be tickled internally.

10: Year Zero

Catchy and awesome, Hail Satan and all his awesome forms with this one. It's trending a lot lately with Tiktok as users are using the intro and pausing on footage or pics of their animals in a funny way.

9: Cirice

Ghost are notorious for having multiple layers in their songs and with this one it feels very much like the narrator who is a Priest is calling out a non-believer in the midsts of a service as they feel their presence amongst the rest, and they convince the person best they can to join this religious cult. Cirice is also an older English term for church so a bit of a fun fact for you. 

8: Faith

As we all know by now Ghost are pretty Satanic in content but again as I said earlier their songs are multi-layered and as with a lot of media, the listener decides what it means to them. Satan's MO is "do what thou whilst," he watches and hears everything you do. When you sin, you hit a wall, and Satan loves to watch you fall to him. This is one of my personal faves, and it's only quite recent that this song rose up for me and just sucked me into it.

7: Rats

    This is literally about the plague of course, but you could also interoperate it as being about organized religion and most likely with the government watching us. Ghost frontman Tobias said this about this track: "It's actually not technically about rodents. It's about something spreading as wildfire and completely destroying things quicker than you know. It was how the plague started in Europe. Not only that, but it was basically a couple of merchant ships that had been over in Crimea. A few of them sailed into the port of Messina in Sicily, and according to the legend, from the ship came rats, and they were carrying the fleas that had this bubonic plague. Almost everyone on the ship was dead and dying." You can't help but to sing along to this one and join in with the "WOah ahh" parts haha. Awesome song live and just the emphasis on the word "RATS" always has sinister intentions coming from the mouth of Papa.

6: Kaiserion

So much goes on with this song and to me, it feels like a big stage show production. A killer opening song for the album of the year IMPERA! The bands mastermind of many faces Tobias Forge was recently interviewed for a cover story newly published over at Kerrang!. In it, he discussed the inspiration for Kaisarion. "There was a building called Caesareum in ancient Alexandria. Roughly what happened was that the teacher and philosopher, Hypatia, was murdered by Christians. She was molested and murdered inside the building, because of her pagan beliefs, because she was a believer in science and real things. This was in the beginning stages of Christianity, when it was just an insane cult, before it got the mandate of a book put together by Romans in 325 to harness that shit. This was like an underground group of terrorists, basically, who couldn’t stand to see some female smart ass preaching or telling people that the world wasn’t flat. And it didn’t happen at the same time, but they also burned down the big library in Alexandria, which must have been an enormous, enormous loss for mankind in terms of knowledge and historic accounts. I think that’s a nice symbol for what you can see now. You can see likenesses of it in public book burnings and stoning and killing everything that doesn’t match with a sort of flat Earth reality that some people live in. Or storming the Capitol and wanting to hang people. It’s a symbol for those sorts of movements that are always targeting smartness and enlightenment, and thinking."

5: Life Eternal

The first time I heard this, it really struck a song with me and made me feel a bit sad, I'll be honest. It makes me think of mortality and two (dare I say) star-crossed lovers, dancing (literally or figuratively) one last time before they are separated or death takes them. I mean it's no secret the album Prequelle has a medieval theme, black plague type setting, and in those days you didn't live long, death could take you at any time, and you had to let go of people you loved too soon. It seems, to me at least, to be questioning whether a love can span beyond one physical lifetime.

4: Hunters Moon

This is GHOST and one of my all-time favourite songs!  It’s not your typical metal. It has elements of prog, hard rock, pop, punk, of so many different things that Forge has up his musical sleeve and that's what makes him and this band shine so many others and make them stand out with their mysterious story and characters too. 

3: Mary On A Cross

This has become a big trending viral hit song lately thanks again to the power of Tiktok. I never thought I would see this band trend so much thanks to Tiktok nor also mention Tiktok and Ghost in a single sentence yet here we are. Anyway there are again many layers to this some people like to use the song in a sexual manner because of Mary going down aha. I see that and I see you people hehe. This is a bop and so damn catchy. This also in terms of story telling from Ghost's lore, seems like this a confession from Papa Zero about how he still loves Sister Imperator despite her keeping him at a distance. I'm assuming due to the event in the Kiss the Go-Goat video where Papa kissed the fan while Sister watched from the balcony, they were either in a relationship and split, Papa wasn't ready to commit, or Sister was just a very jealous business partner who had a crush on him.

2: Dance Macabre

An absolute BANGER! A cunning good wordplay with Bewitch You in this one. Solid sound and catchy lyrics with just a phenomenal performance vocally from Papa and even more so live. The band's lead singer Tobias Forge said this about the song: "Europe was in this turmoil in the late 1340s, the plague is moving extremely fast. It starts off as the worst flu you've ever had, and then it just goes worse, and then you're dead after three days. So people were lying in the streets, corpses and all the surroundings were just falling apart. All the brothels and pubs were thriving because people started partying literally like there was no tomorrow because they were going to die. They were just going for it. "Dance Macabre" is capturing that joyous nocturnal sort of life in a disco song". 

1: Square Hammer

NUMBER 1 ON MY LIST IS THIS MEGA BANGER! This is the song that propelled me full time as a fan of Ghost as prior to this I liked one or two songs in passing. This was different, this was catchy, this stuck to me like glue and for me is a perfect song which balances everything perfect, gets stuck in your head and with you for a long time and makes you blast it on repeat! I was told that this one is very much Ghost delving into the clandestine underworld of Freemasonry and satirizing that establishment the same way they do to organized religions. Intelligent, fascinating, and a kick-ass song.

So my ghouls and ghoulettes, this has been my list and this soul of yours now belongs to Satan and that concludes my list. Please go see GHOST live if you get the chance and give them a lot of love, thanks.

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Stay Ghouly!